DON’T RISK YOUR BUSINESS ON A CARELESS EMPLOYEE!

Wick Hill release: Woking, Surrey: 4th January, 2012 – “Companies are still not getting to grips with the security dangers of mobile computing and consumerisation,” said Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of Wick Hill Group, “and they are risking their reputation and business on a single point of failure - their most careless employee.”

Kilpatrick was speaking as Wick Hill announced it had become a UK distributor of mobile security products for Imation Mobile Security.

“Organisations have continually been in the news for losing unencrypted data,” said Kilpatrick, “often through employee carelessness. We know that this represents only the tip of a large data loss iceberg, yet organisations in the public and private sector continue to allow staff to access, download and lose data, both on unsecured home PCs and on unmanaged USBs.”

Kilpatrick believes that part of the reason that more companies have not introduced secure mobile computing is the rapid growth of remote and mobile working, which has mushroomed and made it a nightmare for IT administrators to track and manage remote PCs, laptops and storage devices such as USB flash drives and removable hard drives.

However, companies are now having to address this issue, stressed Kilpatrick. “The cost of security breaches is extremely high, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is getting tougher on fining companies who do not comply with security standards, and any publicity surrounding security breaches is very harmful. There’s also the ethical issue of making sure you look after any sensitive personal, health, financial data, etc. which you may hold on people.”

Kilpatrick said that, given the low cost of protecting and managing data, versus the high cost of data loss, demand was growing strongly for solutions, such as those from Imation Mobile Security, which allow IT administrators to easily view, manage and secure their network of remote and mobile workers.

The Imation mobile security offering brings together IronKey’s secure data storage hardware business and Imation’s Defender and MXI Security product lines, offering leading technology and the industry’s most complete solution set for organisations that need secure mobile data solutions.

Products, which provide the highest levels of mobile data security, include encrypted flash drives, encrypted external hard drives and encrypted optical discs, with features such as extreme robustness, anti-malware, remote management capabilities, and the ability to wipe lost or stolen devices.

Also in the Imation mobile security range are secure hardware encrypted flash drives with embedded security software, which create a secure and remotely manageable virtual working environment on any PC or laptop.

Nick Banks, VP EMEA & APAC, Imation Mobile Security, commented: “Today, technology exists to protect businesses data on portable devices such as flash drives. Encryption is readily available that makes data accessible and usable for only authorised employees. The ICO recognises that even if encrypted data is lost or stolen, it is not vulnerable to compromise. The ICO have been very clear in advising businesses to encrypt all data which mobile workers access, remove and store on their mobile computing devices.

“However, businesses need to be ready to respond to the enquiries of regulators and go beyond just simple encryption, by implementing an auditable data protection record. This way, any questions regulators may ask can be easily answered.

“The ideal solution is a managed service which would allow the IT department to manage the encrypted devices so they can track and ultimately destroy any data which is lost or stolen. This doesn’t give carte blanche for mobile workers to treat devices without a care, but most importantly it gives businesses the assurance that data cannot be misused if lost. And critically important, in today’s regulatory environment, businesses are safeguarded from fines and the resulting consequences following a data breach.”

ENDS

About Wick Hill
Established in 1976, value added distributor Wick Hill specialises in secure IP infrastructure solutions and convergence. The company sources and delivers best-of-breed, easy-to-use solutions through its channel partners, with a portfolio that covers security, performance, access, networking, convergence and hosted solutions.

Wick Hill is part of the Wick Hill Group, based in Woking, Surrey with sister offices in Hamburg. Wick Hill is particularly focused on providing a wide range of value added support for its channel partners. This includes a strong lead generation and conversion programme, technical and consultancy support for reseller partners in every stage of the sales process, and extensive training facilities.

About Imation Corp.
Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN) is a leading global technology company dedicated to helping people and organisations store, protect and connect their digital world. Our portfolio of data storage and security products, electronics and accessories reaches customers in more than 100 countries through a powerful global distribution network. Imation Corp.'s global brand portfolio includes Imation, Memorex, XtremeMac, TDK Life on Record, and MXI Security brands. More information about Imation’s mobile security brands can be found at http://www.imation.com/mobilesecurity. Imation’s mobile security brands are validated by governments and standards bodies throughout the world and carry the following certifications: FIPS, CAPS (with additional DIPCOG approval), AIVD and NATO